My Thoughts on The Newtown Massacre.

As it is with the rest of the world, my heart is saddened by the the tragedy that occurred Friday in Newtown Connecticut. In addition, as does everyone else, I have my opinions in regards to this heinous massacre that left so many dead. First of all, this had nothing to do with the absence of god. Not having prayer in a public school has no bearing on whether or not a mad man would enter a school and randomly kill innocent children and teachers. Adam Lanza is a sociopath who some how made it through the system, an young man who more than likely showed signs of what kind of person he was early on: someone with a social disconnect, and a complete lack of empathy and humanity. He is a person who would have killed whether god was around or not. For those who claim that god is not allowed in our public schools, therefore violence was allowed to take place, please, just stop. If god is such a factor, there would be no violence – period.

Second, for all the Second Amendment wing nuts, guns were a factor in this, so please, stop with the right to bear arms bullshit. It’s a false argument. The Second Amendment was written at a time when there was still a perceived need to organize state militias. When was the last time this country needed militias? The War of 1812 or some shit like that? Don’t get me wrong here, I do believe in owning guns, I own one myself. However, where I separate myself from the gun extremist is this: we the people simply do not need to have unfettered access to assault weapons. We don’t need semi-automatic pistols for home protection, and we sure as shit don’t need machine guns with grenade launchers to hunt deer with. What we do need are stricter gun laws: we need bans on assault weapons, we need more stringent processes to identify who may or may not purchase a gun. We need some clear headed thinking when it comes to gun control, not some knee jerk extremist defense of the Second Amendment every time a tragedy such as this comes around.

Third, what we do need is better mental health care in this country. We need to remove the public stigma that surrounds mental health. We need to have mental health care providers who have the courage to make the tough choices when it comes to an Adam Lanza. If anyone who knew Adam or someone like Adam, would have identified him for what he was, a seriously sick individual, this might not have happened. If we as a society were more willing to identify the Adam Lanza’s of the world as the sick individuals they are, it might just be possible to get these people the help they need, before innocent people die, before loved ones are put in a position to wonder why their family or friends were taken from them so needlessly. I know this, because I have a son who could end up just like Adam Lanza: a boy with a grocery list of social disorders, a young man who has a history of violent behavior, a son who put a knife in my face and threatened to kill me. I tried as hard as I could to convince his mental health providers that he is a danger, they refused to act because they are hesitant to stigmatize him with a lable that denotes one capable of greater violence. He lives with his mother now, and I pray every day that he does not become one of the Adam Lanza’s of the world.

I am deeply saddened by the events at Newtown. I feel terrible for a community that is left stunned and in shock. I feel like crying for the parents of the children whose lives were cut so short. I weep for those who lost friends and partners. I’m furious at those who so quickly defend the Second Amendment, as well as those who try to shove any perceived lack of god down our throats. Now is not the time for that crap. Now is the time to seriously review our approach to mental health care: now is the time to figure out how to stop an Adam Lanza before so many lives are lost yet again.

I hate to say it, but the Occupy movement will go the way of Eugene Debbs and the Socialist movement of the Progressive Movement from the early 20th century. They may make a little bit of noise for a few years, and maybe even gain a little more momentum. However, like the Socialist movement, they will eventually be silenced by a capitalist machine that is just too large to overcome.